If you are tracking the NSE Do it via RICHLIVE and use Mozilla Firefoxas your Browser.0930-1500 KENYA TIMENormal Board - The Whole shebangPrompt Board Next day settlementExpert Board All you need re an Individual stock.

This story starts in the 1980s. Donald J. Trump had built an empire onreal estate, with a big boost from his father. But all around him, hesaw a growing threat to American business: Japan, the second-largesteconomy on the planet.It was the era of the Sony Walkman and the Panasonic VCR. Japaneseelectronics reigned supreme, and Toyota and Honda sedans filledAmerican streets.For Mr. Trump, the ascendancy struck especially close to home in 1989.That year, Japanese buyers, in their latest trophy deal, boughtRockefeller Center in Manhattan.To combat Japan’s rise, Mr. Trump argued in a TV interview that theUnited States should slap a 20 percent tax on its imports, includingon cars and VCRs.Near the end of the 20th century, glimmers of Mr. Trump’s presidentialdreams began to emerge, with trade at the top of his agenda. In 1999,he announced, on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” that he would considerrunning for president as a Reform Party candidate.On the show, he said the North American Free Trade Agreement would bea “disaster.” He blamed Japan for subsidizing its car industry andtook aim at South Korean shippers.When he went on the campaign trail in 2016, Mr. Trump began to gainstrength in factory towns around the United States decimated by theflood of cheap Chinese goods.While Thor had his thunderbolt, Mr. Trump had his tariffs. With them, he was …In time, the son of Queens had become the Man of Steel. Hesuccessfully wielded tariffs to bring China to the negotiating table,with plans to strike a deal in a matter of months.But will China change its ways? Will a trade war hurt the UnitedStates? Will China’s economy stumble? What does it all mean for therelationship between the two countries? To be continued …

“Now the road was crossing orange groves in flower, and the nuptialscent of the blossoms absorbed the rest as a full moon does alandscape; the smell of sweating horses, the smell of leather from thecarriage upholstery, the smell of Prince and the smell of Jesuit, wereall cancelled out by that Islamic perfume evoking houris and fleshlyjoys beyond the grave.”― Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard

“The truth is that he wanted to draw a little comfort from gazing atthe stars. There were still one or two up there, at the zenith. Asalways, seeing them revived him; they were distant, they wereomnipotent and at the same time they were docile to his calculations;just the contrary to humans, always too near, so weak and yet soquarrelsome.” ― Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard

As of August 2018, the total population of the world exceeds 7.63billion people, and this number is continuing to grow each day.However, in some areas, growth is slowing or even declining.China is the most populous country in the world with a populationexceeding 1.4 billion. It is one of just two countries with apopulation of more than 1 billion, with India being the second.As of 2018, India has a population of over 1.355 billion people.However, its growth is expected to continue through at least 2050.By the year 2030, the India is expected to become the most populouscountry in the world. This is because India’s population will grow,while China will see a loss in population.The next 11 countries that are the most populous in the world eachhave populations exceeding 100 million. These include the UnitedStates, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia,Mexico, Japan, Ethiopia and the Philippines. Of these nations, all areexpected to continue to grow with the exception of Russia and Japan,which will see their populations drop by 2030 before dropping againsignificantly by 2050.There are many other nations that have populations of at least onemillion, while there are also countries that have just thousands. Thesmallest population in the world can be found in Vatican City, wherejust 801 people reside.In 2018, the world’s population grew at a rate of 1.12%. Every fiveyears since the 1970s, the growth rate has continued to fall. Theworld’s population is expected to continue to grow larger, but at amuch slower rate.By 2030, the population will exceed 8 billion. In 2040, this numberwill grow to more than 9 billion.In 2055, the number will rise to over 10 billion, and another billionpeople won’t be added until near the end of the century.The current annual population growth estimates from the United Nationsare in the millions - estimating that over 80 million new lives areadded each year.

Donald Trump owes his current lofty position, in large part, totabloid journalism and its offshoots. During the nineteen-eighties,when he was an up-and-comer on the New York real-estate scene, he wasconstantly planting puff stories about himself in the city’s tabloids,sometimes by posing as a fictitious spokesman, John Barron. (“Ibelieve on occasion I used that name,” he conceded during a 1990deposition.) In 1990, his nasty split from his first wife, Ivana,played out on the front pages of the Post and the Daily News,enhancing his celebrity status. During the nineteen-nineties, hugedebts forced some of Trump’s businesses into bankruptcy, but heresurrected his career by persuading the banks not to abandon him and,eventually, by becoming a star on reality television, itself abastardized form of tabloid journalism. In turn, the persona of theruthlessly decisive mogul that Trump affected on “The Apprentice”provided a platform for his successful Presidential campaign. Whatgreater irony could there be, therefore, than the fact that it isTrump’s links to the tabloid world—rather than his campaign’s ties toRussia, or his self-dealing—that is now posing the most immediatethreat to his Presidency.

You will recall that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping enjoyed a muchanticipated ''Truce'' Dinner at the G20 in Buenos Aires and quaffed aCatena Zapata Nicolas Malbec [2014] wine with their sirloin steaks andfinished it all off with caramel rolled pancakes, crispy chocolate andfresh cream, a dinner that ran over by 60 minutes and one where thedinner Guests broke out into spontaneous applause thereafter.

Saudi Arabia is seeking an alliance with six countries bordering theRed Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a strategic area vital to globalshipping and increasingly an arena of contention with regional rivalslike Iran, Turkey and Qatar.Representatives from Egypt, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Jordangathered in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss the initiative withoutreaching final agreement. A team of experts is expected to meet “soon”in Cairo for technical talks.Eritrea, with Red Sea islands and a mainland coastline of1,150-kilometres (715 miles), was not present. Nor was Ethiopia, whichhas no access to the sea but the largest population in the Horn ofAfrica.“This is part of the kingdom’s efforts to protect its interests andthose of its neighbors and ... to stabilize the region that we live inand to try to create synergies between the various countries...” SaudiForeign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters after a day ofclosed-door meetings.“The more cooperation and coordination that you have among thecountries of this region, the less negative outside influence will beon this region,” he said.Saudi Arabia and its Gulf ally the United Arab Emirates increasinglyview the Horn of Africa coastline as their “western security flank”and fear their adversaries could gain a foothold in the region.

Today from Massawa, Eritrea [admittedly on the Red Sea] to Djibouti,from Berbera to Mogadishu, from Lamu to Mombasa to Tanga to Bagamoyoto Dar Es Salaam, through Beira and Maputo all the way to Durban andall points in between we are witnessing a Port race of sorts aseveryone seeks to get a piece of the Indian Ocean Port action. China[The BRI initiative], the Gulf Countries [who now appear to see theHorn of Africa as their hinter- land], Japan and India [to a lesserdegree] are all jostling for optimal ‘’geo-economic’’ positioning.

“John Bolton is leading the plan to unleash violence and conduct acoup to introduce a transitional government” in Venezuela, Maduro saidat a press-conference, which was broadcast live on his Facebook page.“Bolton is preparing a plan for my assassination.”According to the Venezuelan leader, Bolton’s plot is being carried outwith the heavy involvement of Colombia, with its president Ivan Duquebeing “his accomplice.” Maduro then slammed Duque as Washington’spuppet, who “can’t even go to the toilet without permission from theUS ambassador in Bogota.”In early August, blasts were heard as Maduro attended a militaryparade in the capital, Caracas. The Venezuelan authorities announcedthat it was a failed assassination attempt against the president,which involved drones carrying bombs. Other reports insisted that thepanic actually was caused by an explosion of household gas.Maduro returned to that incident during his press-conference, sayingthat he had “no doubts that the drones were prepared in Colombia underthe supervision of [then Colombian president Juan Manuel] Santos, buton the direct order from the White House.”

The number of people killed by the violence in Yemen has for the firsttime risen above 3,000 dead in a single month, bringing the totalnumber of fatalities to over 60,000 since the start of 2016. Thefigure is six times greater than the out-of-date figure of 10,000 deadoften cited in the media and by politicians.

“We have recorded 3,068 people killed in November, bringing the totalnumber of Yemenis who have died in the violence to 60,223 sinceJanuary 2016,” says Andrea Carboni, a researcher on Yemen for theArmed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), formerly basedat Sussex University, that studies conflicts and seeks to establishthe real casualty level.

The figures do not include the Yemenis who have died throughstarvation or malnutrition – the country is on the brink of famine,according to the UN – or from illnesses caused by the war such ascholera.

The coalition has been trying since March 2015 to reinstate in powerAbdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, whose government had been overthrown by therebel Houthi movement in late 2014.

The number of those who have already died in Yemen may soon be farsurpassed by the number likely to die because of hunger and disease.Some 20 million people are not getting enough to eat – 70 per cent ofthe population – and for the first time, 250,000 are facing“catastrophe”, according to the UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock,who has recently returned from Yemen.

Bitcoin headed for another weekly slump on Friday, with the largestcryptocurrency heading closer to $3,000 -- a level unseen sinceSeptember last year.The largest digital currency edged 0.5 percent higher to $3,272 at9:35 a.m. in Hong Kong after earlier tumbling as much as 6 percent inU.S. hours, according to consolidated pricing compiled by Bloomberg.It remains down about 3 percent for the week. The wider BloombergGalaxy Crypto Index is on a five-week losing streak.Cryptocurrencies have wiped out $730 billion in market value from aJanuary peak this year, according to data compiled byCoinMarketCap.com. Widespread mainstream institutional adoption failedto materialize amid ongoing security concerns and regulatoryroadblocks

It was an in an article on Dec 30th 2016 that I wrote that myconviction Trade for 2017 was 1. Long BITCOIN. BITCOIN was trading atlevels around $1,000.00 going into 2017. My Thesis was that BITCOINand the entire crypto-currency World which had been very esoteric andsomething of a closed World of ''bug-eyed'' Gamers and the Off-GridFolks who wanted throw the Yoke of Government off their backs, would''mainstream'' And it ''mainstreamed'' beyond my wildest dreamsthrough 2017. By November 2017 BITCOIN was knocking on the door of$10,0000.00 and on the 27th November 2017, I wrote an articlecaptioned Bitcoin "Wow! What a Ride!" and advised booking the profitson the Trade. A more than 9.7x Price Inflation was gettinguncomfortably close to outpacing the Tulip Mania [see Graph] BITCOIN'sparabolic price rally had spawned thousands of other crypto currencieswhich were sold on the same grounds as the greatest South Sea Bubbleprospectus: “For carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, butnobody to know what it is.”

The Price inflated further reaching a high of $19,763.00 on 18 dec2017. By the first of January this year we had retreated to$13,428.00. On the 02-JAN-2018 I reiterated my Point to get out andsaid '' I am no longer bullish bitcoin, in fact, I am bearish'' Atthis point in time, I met Folks on these Streets who would pull outtheir Computer and show me how they were making money every second[Look at that they would say and indeed There was a number and it wasticking higher] mining BITCOIN. The recent cryptocurrency marketdecline has resulted in a similar drop in mining profitability andforced Chinese operators to sell their mining devices at a loss. Somemining machines are being sold on the second-hand market for merely 5percent of their original value. Others would tell me, I've boughtNvidia. Crypto at this point was at Peak Phenomenon.

As I write this BITCOIN is trading at $3,650.00. I think its goingright back to levels below $1,000.00.

We have yet to hit peak melt-down. The reason being so many Folksespouse the HODL philosophy.

GameKyuubi posted "I AM HODLING," a drunk, semi-coherent, typo-ladenrant about his poor trading skills and determination to simply holdhis bitcoin from that point on. "I type d that tyitle twice because Iknew it was wrong the first time. Still wrong. w/e," he wrote inreference to the now-famous misspelling of "holding." "WHY AM IHOLDING? I'LL TELL YOU WHY," he continued. "It's because I'm a badtrader and I KNOW I'M A BAD TRADER. Yeah you good traders can spotthe highs and the lows pit pat piffy wing wong wang just like that andmake a millino bucks sure no problem bro."

He concluded that the best course was to hold, since "You only sell ina bear market if you are a good day trader or an illusioned noob. Thepeople inbetween hold. In a zero-sum game such as this, traders canonly take your money if you sell." He then confessed he'd had somewhiskey and briefly mused about the spelling of whisk(e)y. [HODLDefinition | Investopedia]

“But it is a curve each of them feels, unmistakably.It is theparabola. They must have guessed, once or twice -guessed and refusedto believe- that everything, always, collectively, had been movingtoward that purified shape latent in the sky, that shape of nosurprise, no second chance, no return.’’

Let me leave you with Hunter S. Thompson, “Life should not be ajourney to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a prettyand well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud ofsmoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming“Wow! What a Ride!”

The U.S. is cutting 10 percent of its counterterrorism troops inAfrica. Will China and Russia fill the gap?The Trump administration has declared a new era of Great Powercompetition, shifting U.S. national security priorities fromcounterterrorism after almost two decades to long-term strategicthreats from countries like Russia and China.But in Africa — a contested battlefield where those adversaries arevying for strategic influence — policy experts warn that the U.S.hasn’t been playing the game. The Pentagon has escalatedcounterterrorism strikes and special operations missions across thecontinent in a quietly expanding mission. Some lawmakers and formerofficials for years have warned that the U.S. has relied too heavilyon elite operators for short-term tactical missions that aren’tunderpinned by an holistic strategy or complemented by non-militaryefforts and, in Africa, that dynamic is particularly stark.Gen. Tony Thomas, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, orSOCOM, told a conference audience in Austin earlier this month that“there has been a realization that [Africa] is a great powercompetition area.”China in particular is expanding its military footprint on thecontinent, partly by leveraging its expanding economic activities viaa sweeping infrastructure program called the Belt and Road Initiative,and partly by building on decades of financial and politicalinvolvement in several countries. Russia also has sought to gain afoothold across the continent with military cooperation agreements andarms deals, and in September announced an agreement to build alogistics base in Eritrea, on the Red Sea.“Basically we are missing the boat in Africa,” said Mary Beth Long, aCIA veteran and former assistant secretary of defense forInternational Security Affairs. “We’re not even clear from anintelligence standpoint on what the underpinnings of a strategy wouldattempt to address and in part that’s because we have inadequateresources dedicated to the African continent.”National Security Advisor John Bolton is scheduled to unveil the Trumpadministration’s new strategy for the continent in a speech to theconservative Heritage Foundation on Thursday. It is expected to focuson countering near-peer adversaries rather than counterterrorism. TheWhite House is not expected to ask for more funding for diplomacy,intelligence gathering or foreign aid, according to NBC News.The announcement comes just weeks after the Pentagon said it would becutting 10 percent of its troop presence in Africa over the nextseveral years, including half of the counterterrorism forces operatingin West Africa. The Defense Department said in a statement that thegoal was to “realign our counter-terrorism resources and forcesoperating in Africa over the next several years in order to maintain acompetitive posture worldwide.”For others, the drawdown is concerning from a counterterrorismperspective. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called the planned drawdownin Africa “an incredibly bad move,” arguing that as Islamistextremists are defeated in the Mideast, they will reemerge in unstableplaces in Africa.“I think the war’s moving to Africa,” he said. But: “If you have topick and choose [between countering nation-state threats andcountering terrorist threats], you’re making a mistake…. If you startpicking and choosing, taking soldiers from counterterrorism,counterinsurgency and move them over, you’re basically puttingyourself at risk.”In some parts of Africa, the counterterrorism mission remainsuntouched. In Somalia, U.S. military and intelligence forces arebattling al-Shabaab fighters with airstrikes and ground operationsalongside and in support of Somali commandos. This year, there havebeen 37 U.S. airstrikes in Somalia — more than in any previous year,according to data maintained by The Long War Journal. U.S AfricaCommand, or AFRICOM, has announced seven major strikes in the pastfour weeks, each alleging to have killed multiple al-Shabaab members.Trump’s new Africa strategy is a clear effort to address that tension.It is expected to call for strengthening ties with countries that arelikely targets for U.S. competitors and adversaries, and counteringthe ability of those countries to gain footholds in unstable areasthrough economic investment. Although the strategy will call forcontinuing key counterterror partnerships, like with Somali forces,according to NBC News, the focus is shifting away from counteringextremist groups to long-term, strategic nation-state threats. Butit’s difficult to see what the U.S. might do differently, at leastfrom a military perspective, without more resources, policy expertssay. The Trump administration already is building partnerships withAfrican governments and experts say trying to counter Russia andChina’s individual engagements would create opportunities for hostcountries to play the powers off of one another.“I don’t know what you would actually do to shift your focus in Africabeyond what we’re already doing,” Devermont said.Experts are quick to caution that just like in the United States,Africa is not at the top of the priority list for China and Russia.But for Africans, Devermont noted, the return of great powercompetition isn’t a negative thing. Nor, he says, are Russia and Chinathe only game in town. The UAE, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, andother nations are engaging in Africa.“[Africans] don’t see this as zero-sum,” he said. “It provides newresources, gives them new leverage, lessens dependence. It’s verydifficult for us to talk to the Africans about ‘you’re with us’ or‘you’re with them’—that’s not the paradigm the Africans are going tosubscribe to.“We’re talking with one set of talking points and the Africans havevery different ones.”

A fire at a warehouse in the Congolese capital Kinshasa has destroyedthousands of voting machines intended for use in the country’slong-delayed presidential election.The suspected arson attack, which started in the early hours ofThursday, has heightened tensions surrounding the poll and thegovernment’s controversial decision to introduce an electronic votingsystem.With less than 10 days to find replacement equipment, it also castsdoubt on the electoral commission’s ability to hold the vote inKinshasa, Congo’s biggest city.The election that marks country’s first transition via the ballot box,has been delayed for two years, stoking suspicion that PresidentJoseph Kabila — who has agreed to step down after 17 years in office —may still want to influence the outcome of the vote.The opposition has questioned the independence of the electoralcommission and the integrity of the untested electronic voting system,in some cases calling on voters to break the machines. This week, astensions mounted on the campaign trail, security forces attackedopposition rallies in the south-east of the country.About 7,000 voting machines were lost in the fire, as well as ballotboxes and other materials, Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, Mr Kabila’schief diplomatic adviser, said on Thursday.“It is incredibly serious” Mr Kikaya said by phone from Kinshasa. Aninvestigation is under way but the government suspects it was acriminal attack and the facility’s security guards were beinginterviewed, he said.The fire has already provoked a series of claims and counter-claimsfrom Congo’s divided political class, said Stephanie Wolters a Congoexpert at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, SouthAfrica.“Civil society and the opposition are accusing the government ofcommitting arson in order to justify a further election delay, in anindication of just how high levels of distrust and suspicion are,” shesaid.The electoral commission, also known as CENI, said in a statement thatthe fire would not derail the vote, which is still scheduled for 23December.But the loss of so many voting machines so close to election day is amajor challenge. As the presidential, parliamentary and provincialelections will take place on the same day, the devices are programmedfor deployment in specific constituencies. It means the electoralcommission must not only find replacement machines, but also programmeeach device for use in Kinshasa, Mr Kikaya said.The CENI does have approximately 30,000 spare voting machines, out ofa total of about 105,000, due to be used around the country as extradevices, but the deployment of equipment was running behind schedulein some areas and overdue training of more than 500,000 election staffwas expected to continue right up until voting day.

“We want election day to be a party, not a day people lose theirlives,” says President Joseph Kabila (pictured). After a ballotscheduled for December 23rd, he is planning to step down, he says.Having ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo for 18 years, he isconstitutionally required to. Entertaining foreign journalists (a rareevent) at his farm east of Kinshasa, the capital, he is mild-mannered.He chuckles at tough questions, and wanders off topic when disinclinedto answer. Asked if the election will be free and fair, however, he isdirect: “No question about that.” Few outside his circle concur.

Still, it will be the first time that Congo has ever changed itsleader at the ballot box. Mobutu Sese Seko, a kleptocrat who grabbedpower in 1965 and used public cash to swill pink champagne and charterConcorde to go shopping in Paris, fled his palace moments before itwas ransacked by soldiers in 1997. The man who toppled him, LaurentKabila, was shot dead by a bodyguard in 2001. His son has ruled eversince, locking up critics and crushing protests. In recent yearsthousands have died violently.

The election has been a long time coming. The constitution required MrKabila to step down in 2016. He tried to change it, failed, and stuckaround for two more years anyway. The Catholic Church, one of Congo’sfew well-functioning institutions, organised peaceful protests callingfor him to step down. On three Sundays, congregations in Kinshasamarched out of church after mass waving palm fronds and placards. Thepolice sprayed them with tear gas and bullets, killing 18 people anddumping bodies in the river.

Mr Kabila probably will step down, having been pressed to do so byAngola, South Africa and other African states that fear chaos if helingers. But it would be foolish to expect voting day to be jolly.More than 100 rebel groups are at large. A jihadist militia,reportedly with links to Islamic State, is terrorising an eastern areathat is also being ravaged by Ebola. Many Congolese will be toonervous to vote.

Few trust the electoral commission, widely believed to be in MrKabila’s pocket. Polling booths may well go up in flames. Two peoplewere killed by police at an opposition rally in the capital onDecember 11th. Some 105,000 electronic voting tablets from South Koreahave been nicknamed machines à voler (stealing machines). Deliveringthem to 84,000 polling stations, many in remote areas accessible onlyby helicopter, boat or motorbike, will be tricky. If batteries goflat, it will be hard to recharge them. Only 1% of people in ruralCongo have access to electricity.

“Voting takes a minute,” says Corneille Nangaa, the commission’s head.It may take rather longer. Jean-Pierre Bemba, an opposition leader andformer warlord barred from standing, says it will take an average ofsix minutes, partly because so many voters are unused to technology.If so, Congo’s 40m voters (in a population of maybe 82m) would need atleast two days to cast their ballots. Mr Nangaa says voting must notexceed 24 hours.

If the election is too obviously flawed and enough people in andoutside Congo complain, it could be invalidated and put off yetagain—leaving Mr Kabila in power. If not, the winner is likely to beEmmanuel Ramazani Shadary, Mr Kabila’s handpicked successor, a formerinterior minister. The eu has just renewed sanctions against him forthe part he played in suppressing protests in 2016 and 2017, so hewill not be able to visit it. “Congo is as big as the European Union,so Shadary will have so many provinces to cover,” says Mr Kabilabreezily. “I don’t think he will miss Europe.”

Mr Shadary faces a weak opposition. Two of his most serious rivals, MrBemba and Moïse Katumbi, a former governor, were prevented fromrunning. The rest of the opposition has splintered. In a short-livedmoment of hope last month, seven opposition leaders said they hadchosen a single candidate, but within a day two of them peeled off toform a rival coalition.

Mr Kabila says he will keep himself busy spending time with hismother. He will also lend a hand to Mr Shadary (or any other winner).He may even try to run again for president next time around, as theconstitution allows, perhaps having pulled Mr Shadary’s strings forfive years. He is studiously vague about this: “2023 is way away.” Ata summit in August he told leaders that he would not say goodbye butrather “à bientôt” (see you soon). Did this mean he plans to return?“I was paraphrasing a movie I have seen very often...when ArnoldSchwarzenegger says ‘I’ll be back’. So don’t take lots of my jokes outof context.”

Mr Kabila has stayed in power by keeping friends and rivals weak. Thearmy is often without ammunition, save for the presidential guard. MrKabila’s loyalists have been slotted into the constitutional court andelectoral commission. Anyone who becomes too popular is in danger.Denis Mukwege, the winner of this year’s Nobel peace prize fortreating victims of wartime rape, survived an assassination attempt in2012. An army general with a big following was murdered in 2014.

Mr Kabila will want his successor to protect the wealth he hasaccrued. He and his family have interests in mines, banks, realestate, farms and airlines. Their companies have permits for diamondmining that extend along Congo’s southern border with Angola. His farmat Kingakati adjoins a game park teeming with imported giraffes, rhinoand lions.

“What happens when the lizard becomes the crocodile?” is a Congoleseadage. Could Mr Shadary, once in office, bare his teeth at Mr Kabila?If Mr Shadary were to follow the example of Angola’s president, JoãoLourenço, he could tell the taxman to take a hard look at hispredecessor’s family. However, lacking a base of his own, most notablyin the army or security services, Mr Shadary is unlikely to do so.

“I am not a rich man,” pleaded Paul Malong, the ex-chief of SouthSudan’s army, in an interview on Kenyan television. Shaking his head,he denied having plundered state coffers or being responsible for warcrimes committed by his troops. “I am just a family man,” heexplained.The Sentry, a watchdog backed by George Clooney, an actor, says thatMr Malong owns at least two big houses in Uganda and a $2m mansion ina gated community in Nairobi.Since South Sudan’s independence in 2011 its leaders have pillaged thecountry (see article). Nearly $7bn has gone missing since 2012,reckons Kenya’s Institute of Economic Affairs, a think-tank.Petrodollars vanish. Powerful wrongdoers are seldom punished.Partly because the state is easy to plunder, big men fight for controlof it. South Sudan’s conflict, which started five years ago onDecember 15th, has caused perhaps half a million deaths, mostly byaggravating hunger and disease. Neighbours have hosted peace talks,paid for by donors. But they have done little to stop the launderingof the loot.A report by a un Panel of Experts raised concerns that oil firms weremaking large prepayments for oil that is yet to be produced. Althoughnot necessarily corrupt, these deals are presumably concluded withthose currently in power, rather than with those who will take over.“It looks like they were offshoring money very rapidly, ” says KlemRyan, who served on the panel. Other resources such as teak and goldare also smuggled out of South Sudan. Some of the proceeds go to rebelgroups and government forces.Kenya’s financial authorities have yet to take any action againstbanks suspected of holding South Sudanese loot. Both Kenya and Ugandalobbied against America’s efforts to impose un sanctions, despitepaying lip service to them, says Zach Vertin, the author of a new bookabout the war.There are signs that the West is getting tougher about enforcingsanctions. In a visit to Uganda in June an American Treasury officialwarned local banks that they would be cut off from America’s financialsystem if they did not stop South Sudanese bigwigs from buyingproperty with dodgy cash. Kenya’s banks may soon be “grey-listed” bythe Financial Action Task Force, the world’s primaryanti-money-laundering body, which would discourage other banks fromdealing with them.But David Ndii of Africa Economics, a think-tank in Nairobi, doubtsregional authorities will ever really clamp down. “Money-laundering isvery big business,” he says. “There is absolutely no domesticpolitical interest to rock the boat.”

Many centuries before Paul Mphwiyo was shot in the face, there was ahill in East Africa settled by a clan searching for edible roots. Onegroup from the clan slept at the bottom of the hill and one groupslept at the top. The people who slept at the top of the hill, thePhiri, were known for their political power. The people who slept atthe bottom of the hill, the Banda, were known for their ability tomake rain. Once they had been a single clan, but the hill turned theminto two. Years later, those two clans would help establish thecountry of Malawi.Not far from the same hill, many years later, a housemaid who went bythe nickname Anaphiri — meaning her family hailed from the Phiri clan— earned $48 a month cooking, cleaning and taking care of a child fora family in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. She was in her 40s andspent almost all her time behind the wall that surrounded the family’shome. She’d been working full time for them for six months when, inearly September 2013, she told them she was going to a funeral andnever returned. When she left, Anaphiri took with her three millionkwacha in cash, a king’s ransom in Malawi.According to one version of Anaphiri’s story, she gave part or all ofthe stolen money to her good-for-nothing son, who went around spendingit at the bars in Blantyre, Malawi’s other major city, like he wassome big-shot. Everyone at the bars knew the son was dead broke, andtheir jealous chatter eventually reached the local police. Questionedabout the source of the money, the son led police back to his mother,Anaphiri, a lowly housemaid who had no business at all having threemillion kwacha, then worth about $9,000. The housemaid told the policeshe stole the money from her employer, a young government worker namedVictor Sithole.When the authorities showed up at Sithole’s house on Sept. 7, 2013, hewas basically a nobody. In six years of working as an accountsassistant in Malawi’s Ministry of Climate Change, he hadn’t gotten asingle promotion. He was 27 years old and earning 40,000 kwacha, or$120 per month — enough in Malawi to rent a small home and pay forfood, electricity, shared transport and a mobile phone. Not enough toever own a car or a new computer or to buy a plane ticket.Until just a few weeks before Anaphiri stole the money, Sithole andhis family had been living in Lilongwe’s Area 25, a modestneighborhood of small brick homes crossed by uneven dirt roads. It’shardly the poorest part of the city — that would probably be Mtandire,a dense neighborhood mostly lacking running water and electricity —but it’s far from the wealthiest. In addition to his job ingovernment, Sithole owned a bar that brought in $100 a month. He alsobought and sold maize and other common Malawian crops for extraincome. Sithole was better off than most Malawians but not by much.Then during the summer of 2013, he suddenly moved the family to Area47, where houses have manicured grass, sculpted bushes, securityguards and high walls. Area 47 looks like a paranoid version of a SanFrancisco suburb. Successful business owners, ambassadors andexpatriates — the 1 percent of Malawi — tend to live there. People whodrive nice cars, own iPhones and dine at Western-style restaurants.The police that came to Area 47 that morning encountered a young manliving well above his means; the rent on his new house was 250,000kwacha, six times his monthly salary. But that was barely a blipcompared to what else police found: lots and lots of cash. Inside aToyota Fortuner, police discovered 80 million kwacha, and in a ToyotaVitz another 32 million. When they searched the house, they found121,000 in South African rand and $32,000. The police arrested Sitholefor possession of stolen property and illegal possession of foreigncurrency. The total value of the money discovered at his houseamounted to roughly $380,000. It would have taken Sithole 263 years toearn that much with his government job. “The whole entire government of Malawi is a criminal enterprise,”Mphwiyo told me. “That is what I discovered.”

Shoprite Holdings Ltd. is seeking a foothold in Kenya’s retailindustry, where the collapse of two local supermarket chains hascreated opportunities for Africa’s biggest grocer and itsinternational rivals.The Cape Town-based firm opens its first store in Nairobi on Thursday,at a site previously occupied by struggling Nakumatt Holdings Ltd.,which has shuttered all but six stores in East Africa’s biggesteconomy.French retailer Carrefour SA, Wal-Mart Inc.-controlled MassmartHoldings Ltd. and Choppies Enterprises Ltd. of Botswana are alsoseeking to fill space left by the debt-ridden company and state-backedUchumi Supermarkets Plc, which is facing a winding-up petition.Up for grabs is a market with a formal retail penetration of 33percent, meaning about a third of shopping is done in stores ratherthan market places.That makes Kenya the second-biggest retail center in Africa behindSouth Africa, according to a study by Nielsen. The target is to growthe ratio to 35 percent by end of 2019, according to Chris Kiptoo,principal secretary at Kenya’s state department of trade.Shoprite’s plan to expand in that market is hampered by competition,particularly from Paris-based Carrefour, which is driving up rentalcosts, according to Gerhard Fritz, Shoprite’s head of operationsoutside South Africa.“Due to the aggressive expansion of Carrefour there are no cheap sitesleft behind with the demise of Nakumatt and Uchumi,” he said in anemailed response to questions. “We have declined some sites as we feelrentals are too high. Landlords are having a field day playing eachoff against each other.”Even so, Shoprite is scheduled to open three more stores in Kenya nextyear, he said. For Carrefour’s part, the retailer has trebled itsnumber of outlets in the country to six in the past year and has twomore opening in coming weeks. Nakumatt, which applied to the HighCourt to be placed under administration in October, 2017, had 62branches across the East African region.

Mr Ouko, in the NSSF’s financial statement for the year ended June2017 published Thursday, wants GenAfrica, Britam, Old Mutual andStanlib locked out for exposing workers to possible loss of Sh969.72million in collapsed Imperial and Chase banks.The four fund managers have been accused of recklessly investing acumulative Sh996.4 million – comprised of Sh666.90 million incorporate bonds and Sh329.5 million in fixed deposits – in the twolenders.Mr Ouko says only Sh26.68 million of the cash invested betweenSeptember and October 2015, and which was not disclosed in previousfinancial statements, had been recovered as at June 2017.He argues that the NSSF did not receive value for the Sh181.52 millionit paid out to the fund managers in consultancy fees during the yearended June 2017.“It’s also not clear whether the deposits were insured,” Mr Ouko says.“The three-year contracts of the current fund managers were renewed inthe year 2014/15 (July 2014-June 2018), and it is recommended that thefund managers be changed on expiry of their contracts.”Old Mutual Asset Managers, the statement shows, injected Sh417.7million of the NSSF funds into the two beleaguered lenders followed byBritam with Sh391 million.GenAfrica, majority-owned by New York-based Kuramo Capital, betSh218.5 million of the workers’ savings in Imperial and Chase, whileStanlib sunk Sh100 million in Chase’s corporate bond.“The fund (NSSF) has, however, indicated the likelihood of recoveringmost of the investments after CBK (Central Bank of Kenya) carried outan expression of interest and received initial bids to sell ImperialBank to pay off depositors, while Chase Bank was re-opened andreportedly acquired by SBM Kenya…,” he added.